Filming Locations:

Company:

Did You Know?

Trivia:

The film's first scene, the initial cemetery attack on Barbara and Johnny, was the last filmed, in November 1967. The actors had to hold their breath to avoid visible condensation in the frosty autumn air.See more »

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Ben contradicts himself all through the story he tells Barbara about the gasoline truck. First he says he had just gotten into a truck he found to listen to the radio when this happened. But then he says that when the gas truck came by it was all he could do to miss it - inferring he was driving. He also says that it was "screaming by" and that zombies were chasing it on foot and keeping up - but all the zombies we've seen can be out run by even Barbara. He also says that the truck was on fire during this chase and there were zombies hanging onto the truck yet we've seen that the only thing that scares zombies is fire.See more »

A wave of mass murder sweeps across America as the recently dead return to
life to kill and feast on their victims. A group of people board themselves
up in an abandoned house to try and hold out against a small army of the
undead.
This is the classic low-budget horror film that is the model for recent hits
such as the Evil Dead and The Blair Witch Project. George Romero stages a
national disaster but reduces it to a single house for greater effect. The
story focuses on the weaknesses of each of the characters in the house -
their cowardice, their greedy, their stupidity etc. This makes the drama
inside the house almost as palatable as the danger from outside and makes
the characters more believable and important.

The undead are not huge works of special effects, nor are they anything
other than lumbering beasts. But the threat they pose is well demonstrated
- the film makes them feel unstoppable and relentless and makes their
lingering presence more menacing and less comical than it could have been.
The use of an unknown cast also makes it more realistic as none of them have
any baggage. Duane Jones is the standout actor as Ben - who is not without
flaws himself.

The downbeat, realistic atmosphere to the film gives it a greater sense of
tension and continues right through to the very depressing conclusion. An
excellent flagship for low budget horrors.

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